It's Me!

About Me

I'm 24. I was born 3 months early. I've been a vegetarian since birth, and I love Harry Potter, Disney, taking pictures, and baking. College graduate, studied journalism.
I work at Disney World in Florida; I've worked in Fantasyland Attractions, as a Character Attendant, and now am a Guest Relations Hostess. I love my job.
I've met President Obama, Daniel Radcliffe, President Clinton, Ricky Ullman, and Betty White!

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Saturday, March 19, 2011

'How to Succeed' Press!

"I just moved into the world of Xbox Live," Radcliffe says in the lobby of the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, where How to Succeedin Business Without Really Trying is in previews for an opening March 27. "And I've discovered that everyone on the Internet is a lot better than me. I spent half an hour the other day designing a boxer, and I got knocked out twice in the first round."

"My parents were what I like to call proper musical fans. Lots of Sondheim was played in the car," in addition to the scores of South Pacific and another Loesser classic, Guys and Dolls. But the prospect of dancing "scared me. A lot. Because I have absolutely no aptitude for it."

"It was a matter of putting in the time so I could develop the confidence," Radcliffe says. "My dance teacher keeps telling me, 'If you're smiling, your feet could be doing pretty much anything and no one will care.' But if you have that rigor mortis look of concentration, it doesn't work."

"I'm very comfortable discussing my personal life, because it's so boring." Home is an apartment in New York's West Village. "I love it, because it's possible to be kind of anonymous. I'm 5-foot-5, and I'll wear a big parka and put the hood up, and nobody gives me a second glance."

He acknowledges having a girlfriend, based in England. "She's here with me as much as she can be. She's about to start a new job in not too long, though, so I won't see her for a few months." Is she an actress? "No! God, no," Radcliffe says, looking a bit horrified. He prefers to keep her identity private, "not so much for my sake as for hers."

An avid reader, Radcliffe carries with him a paperback collection of writings by the famously witty, distinctly New York-based author Fran Lebowitz. "I'd love to write. But then you read something like this" — he holds up the book — "and you go, well, maybe not. She's just so brilliant."

"I've always thought that as long as directors and casting directors don't see me as just Harry Potter, I'll be OK," Radcliffe says. "People have shown a lot of faith in me, and I owe them a huge debt. They're letting me prove that I'm serious about this."

"A Broadway musical – are you a natural song and dance man, do you know?" asked Couric.

"No, no," he replied. "I mean, singing, I can do. But dance took a lot of work. I worked for about a year and a half with two dance teachers, one after the other, to get half-decent. And now, hopefully, you know, I’ll be able to surprise a few people."

"...This is the joke about me that people have on set, is that I’m an old man in a young man's shell," Radcliffe said. "So, at the last ‘Potter’ premiere, it was my ideal premiere, because I did the red carpet, went inside, introduced the film, went off. I was at home by 10:30, with a bowl of Sugar Puffs, watching The History Channel. And I’ve never been happier!" he said. "Rock 'n roll!"

"Do you Twitter, or Tweet?" Couric asked.

"I don’t Twitter, or Tweet," Radcliffe said. "I think Twitter is a really strange thing, because there are certain people in the world who are naturally epigrammatic, and can say things very concisely, and very brilliantly, in natural space and time. But I think they are a very small number of people."

"You know, I cried, I wept like a child on the day we finished filming," he said. "It has been like a family, and it’s scary to have to go out into the real world. It feels like you’re, you know, leaving the nest. But at the same time, you know, we always knew it was going to end. And we can’t just go on indefinitely, filming Harry Potter films."

"...I’ve loved every single second of Harry Potter, and everything that happens to me, the rest of my life, I owe to those films. But, you know, to now walk away from it, is exciting, in another way. Because I feel it’s given me the grounding in a career that people could only ever wish for. And I want to make the most of the opportunity I’ve been given."